Life As We Know It
by castleobsessor96
Summary: Rick and Kate have been married for five years. They have three girls and are expecting twins. Life is going great. But life throws them a curve ball. Luckily they have their family and friends by their side. But are they going to be able to handle it or will it wear them down?
1. Chapter 1

As Rick lays in bed looking at his beautiful wife, he begins to reminisce the last 9 years they have been together. They really have been through a lot. Between Kate almost dying, his proposal, Kate working in D.C, their delayed wedding, their partial breakup, the big move, and their kids he really is not sure how they made it. But they did. All because they loved each other. And now, here they are expecting twins. That was the last thing they were expecting.

Then he looks at his wife. So beautiful. Going through all of that and still being as strong as she is. He is so proud to be her husband.

"You know Rick, no matter how long we have been together, the staring is still creepy." she said with one eye open. He just smiles at her. "Are the girls up yet?" she asked.

"No not yet. Which is very surprising since it is 8:00am" he says while looking at the clock. "I am going to go and check on them and then I'm gonna make breakfast. What are you and my boys hungry for?" he asks while getting up from the bed.

"Hmmm. Actually we have been craving breakfast tacos." she says with a big smile.

He leans down and gives her a quick kiss. "Okay that sounds good. I'll see if the girls want to help."

"Babe I am not sure that is a good idea. A 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a 2 year old in the kitchen? That is just a disaster waiting to happen." she says while laughing.

Castle is just standing there thinking about all the things that could go wrong. Maybe Kate is right he thinks. This is not something he wants to deal with. "You know, you are so right. I'll just put on a movie for them." he says as he leaves. Kate is cracking up as he walks out of their room. She looks at the clock and decides that she was just going to close her eyes for ten more minutes.

Castle walks down the hall to go check on the girls. He was a very lucky man to have all these girls in his life. First he has Alexis who is growing up way too fast for him. The fact that she is married and lives on her own makes him so sad. And he also has his mother who moved to California with her new husband and is pursuing her acting career. As crazy and she is, he really misses her. Then he has Kate which he is so thankful for.

But he is the luckiest man in the world because of his three youngest daughters. His second oldest daughter, Ava Johanna Castle, is a spitting image of her mother. She has long brown hair down to her hips and beautiful hazel green eyes. For a five year old she is really smart too. She speaks her mind and knows what she wants. His third daughter Hannah Grace Castle, is just like her father. She has brown hair up to the middle of her back and gorgeous piercing blue eyes. She is a very active three year old. She loves to read and draw. She admires her dad so much. And his youngest daughter Isabella Hope Castle, or Bella, is a mixture of both Rick and Kate. She has her mom's long brown hair and her dad's blue eyes. For a two year old she is very quiet but silly.

When Castle went to go check on them, he found the three of them in Ava's room coloring pictures.

He smiled at the sight. He loves when they get along. "Hey girls. What are you guys doing?" he asks them.

"Hi Daddy!" Bella says. "We is makins pictures for our baby brothers."

"Really? That's pretty awesome. What are you drawing?"

" Well I drawed a rainbow, Hannie drawed a rocket, and Ava won't let us see what she drawed. She is bein naughty." Bella told him.

Castle walked over to Ava and sat next to her. "Ava honey, what are you drawing?"

Ava looks up at him with red eyes. She has been crying. "I was trying to draw all of us, but there is no more room on the paper. I tried to get the bigger paper but I could not reach"

Castle picked her up and sat her in his lap. "You don't have to cry about that sweetie. You could've came and asked me to get it for you." He wiped away her tears. "We can go get the paper and then you can finish your picture later, okay?"

"Okay." she said smiling at him.

"But right now, I have to go make breakfast for everyone. So how about I out on a movie in the family room for you guys?"

"Yay! Yay!" Hannah shouted while jumping up and down. "Why can't we watch it in the movie theater?"

"Well because Daddy has to be able to see you while I cook." She looked a little upset. "How about this. I put the movie on for you upstairs now, and if you guys behave today and I get everything done that I need to, then tonight we can go downstairs in the basement and watch a movie in the theater. Deal?"

The girls looked at each other and then looked at their dad." Okay deal!" they said together.

Castle was laughing. They are all so much like their mother. He is not sure how long it will be until they realize that they can argue back. But he is just going to enjoy it while he can.

They all went downstairs so they could get a start on their day. He put on Beauty and the Beast for the girls and off to the kitchen he went. He finished making everything in about 15 minutes. He loved making breakfast tacos. They are so easy to make. He noticed that Kate was not downstairs yet.

"Hey Ava? Can you go get your mom and tell her that breakfast is ready?"

"Yes okay I will!" she ran upstairs, went to her parents room and got her mom. She ran back downstairs and went back to the movie. Castle was setting the table. He put everyone's plate at their place at the table. He called the girls over and put Hannah and Bella in their high chairs. Kate came downstairs and walked over to the table. She gave each of her daughters a kiss on their heads.

"Mommy guess what we did?" Hannah asked her mother as she down at the table.

Kate smiled at her daughter "What did you guys do Hannie?"

"We made pictures for our baby brothers" she said with a big smile. "Ava helpded us draw a rocket and a rainbow but she messed up on her picture. But daddy said that he was going to help her draw it again."

"Well that was very nice of you Aj and that is very nice of daddy to help you." she says smiling at her husband. "But the pictures are going to have to wait because we have a busy day ahead of us."

"What is we doing today Mommy?" Bella asks with her mouth full.

Rick and Kate are cracking up. "Well today we are going to get new furniture for the babies room and for yours and Hannah's room. We also have to pick up some stuff for the babies. We are also going to paint the rooms too so you guys are going to have a big sleepover in Aj's room."

"Really?!" the girls said in unison "This is going to be awesome!" Ava said excitingly.

They finished up breakfast with the girls just talking about their new bedroom, their sleepover and the babies. Kate cleaned up after breakfast while Castle took the girls upstairs to get them ready for the day.


	2. Chapter 2

After going paint shopping, baby shopping, and going out for lunch, their final stop was the furniture store. They needed to get cribs for the babies and a bunk bed set for Hannah and Bella.

" I think we should let the girls have a say in what kind of bunk beds we get them since they are going to share a room." Castle suggested while he and Kate were looking at the different sets of beds.

"Listen Castle, we would be here for days if they did. Let's just pick them and we will let them pick their bedding."

"Okay fine. Well since they already have full size mattresses, we need to get a bunk bed that will fit them. We also need to get 2 sets of rails."

"Why two?"

"Well Hannah is going to be on the top bunk, so we wouldn't want her to fall off. And Bella is a wild sleeper so I just want her to have some kind of security."

"Okay that sounds good. I like this one." Kate says. She is pointing to a bunk set that is for full sized mattresses. It was white and it has built in shelves and a dresser attached to it. "I think it will be very useful for the girls. Hannah will have the dresser that is attached to the bed and we will get Bella a matching one. It also has railings on the stairs so that no one falls. Plus these shelves could hold all of their books."

Castle walked over and looked at the set. "Yeah I love it. I think it will be good for them. Why don't you put the girls in the car and I will pay for the bed and put in the order for it to be delivered tomorrow."

Kate gathered up the girls and walked with them to the car. Castle ordered and paid for the beds. He got back to the car and back home they went.

*Later that evening*

Kate came into the room looking very defeated "It took three books until they finally fell asleep." She plopped herself on the bed. "How are we going to do all of this when the babies get here? I mean I go back to work in a few months and you will be very busy writing and doing your PI stuff."

"You know, I was thinking that we should hire a nanny. I mean, I will be home two days out of the week so I will have some help then. And then when we are not here the kids will be with the nanny." Rick suggested.

In all honesty though, that was the last thing that Kate wanted to do. She never wanted her kids to be dependent on anyone other than themselves or family and friends. But the reality is, they need to hire someone to care for the kids. "I mean I guess. Even though I really don't want to, I guess we have to."

"Okay so I'll do some searching, line some people up for interviews and then we will pick who gets along with the girls best and who we like best." Castle said.

Kate gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Okay sounds good. We can do it after we set everyone's room up tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan." he said.

*Mid Afternoon the next day*

"Castle I have to put Hannah and Isabella down for a nap. Are you almost done?" Kate asked watching Castle putting the girls bedding.

"Actually I am all done so you can bring them in." Rick said as he walked towards her. "It's all set up for them too."

"Okay I'm going to put them to sleep and then we can look for some nannies." Kate said as she went to go get the girls from their room.

20 minutes later Kate came back down. She was looking for Castle but couldn't find him. A few minutes later she found him in his office on the computer.

Castle looked up and saw Kate and smiled at her. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah let's get started."

"Alright so I have it narrowed down to to four girls that fit our needs." he said

Kate looked at Castle weirdly. "Castle do you really know _everything_ that we need?"

"Seriously? Of course I do. We need someone to be here Monday through Friday. Since you leave by 7 am, she will be here from the time I leave, which is 8 am, until the time that I get home which is around 5 pm. We also want someone who has experience with newborns and some experience with multiples."

Kate smiled at Rick and gave him a kiss. "I just wanted to see if you said what I was thinking; which you did. So we are all good."

Castle rolled his eyes at her. "Anyways, I think these four girls could be possibilities."

Kate took a look at each of their profiles. She picked three out of the four that she liked. So she called each of them and set up interviews with them in a few days.

*That night at dinner*

The whole family was sitting together just having a fun conversation.

"Hey girls. Daddy and I want to talk to you guys about something." Kate said. All of them looked at her. "Well your brothers are going to be here in about a week, which means mommy is going to need a lot of help with them. And since daddy is going back to work in two weeks, I am not going to have a helper. Also when mommy is going back to work in a month, someone has to be with you guys when daddy and I are at work. So we are going to be hiring a babysitter."

The girls were just looking at her. She had a feeling they would not understand but she felt the need to tell them.

"Is she gonna play with us?" Hannah asked

Kate and Castle looked at each other and started laughing. Of all the questions she could've asked, all she cared about was whether or not she was going to have a friend to play with.

"Well sweetie, I am pretty sure she will but she will most likely be helping out with the babies."

She looked at the rest of her sisters and then back at Kate "Okay! When is she coming?"

"Well we are going to meet a few of them and then we will decide on who will be watching you. And then you guys will be able to meet her." Castle said.

They finished dinner 20 minutes, cleaned up, bathed the girls, and put them to bed. They both went back downstairs to get everything ready for their busy week. Kate was making Ava's lunch for school tomorrow. Castle knew something was wrong. He could tell just by how quiet she was.

"Kate honey, what's the matter?"

"I don't know Castle. Do you think we are doing the right thing?"

Castle was confused "What are you talking about? Hiring a sitter?"

She turned around and faced him. "Yes. I don't want them to think that we don't want to be here with them or that we aren't trying to be here with them."

He walked over to Kate and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed the top of her head and then said "Kate, the girls don't think that at all. We are doing this because we have to be able to provide for them. It is a good thing. They know that we love them very much."

She pulled back and looked at him. She kissed him and hugged him back. She is so grateful for having him as her husband. She wouldn't want it any other way.

"Thank you Castle. I love you."

"I love you too Kate."

The next chapter will be a few weeks ahead. The twins will have already been born, the nanny is already hired, and Castle started going back to work.

I also would like some name ideas. I am trying to get these next few chapters up by today. Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

*This chapter is 6 weeks later*

is the perfect word to describe how life has been lately. Well about five weeks ago the twins were born. Baby A was born first, which was Maximino James Castle. Baby B was born 7 minutes later, which was Lincoln Alexander Castle. After many interviews, extensive background checks, and many late night conversations and arguments, two days after the boys were born Kate and Rick hired a nanny. Her name is Carrie. Castle also started going back to work so it has just been Kate and Carrie. But soon it will be just Carrie because Kate is supposed to report back to work in a week.

Kate was in a rush. She had a meeting with 1PP today and she was supposed to be there 10 minutes ago.

"Hey Carrie, I have to go to this meeting right now. It is going to be a pretty long one. So you are going to have busy day. You are going to be with all five kids by yourself. Now Ava has to be picked up from school at 2:45 pm. Then she has dance from 3:15 to 4:15. So you are going to drop her off at dance. While she is at dance, Hannah has speech from 3:30 to 4:00. So after you drop Ava off, you will take Hannah to speech. You can drop her off but just stay in the car with the other kids until she is done. Then you have to go back and pick Ava up and then come home and start dinner."

You could tell by the look on Carrie's face that she was nervous. "Okay that is not a problem. I'll just pack up the navigator right now with everything since the kids are napping." she said

"Alright great! Well I have to go. If you need anything, just call me or Rick." Kate said as she walked out the door.

Carrie closed the door and just closed her eyes. She was praying that today went well.

*Later that evening*

"Alright guys...take off your shoes and go wash your hands. I am going to put your brothers in their swings first and then I am going to get your dinner ready." Carrie said.

"Nanny Carrie, what are we having for dinner?" Ava asked while she was taking off her shoes.

"We are having pizza and broccoli. Then I have to get you guys showered and ready for bed." she told Ava.

The girls went to the bathroom and washed their hands. Then they went back into the kitchen and sat at the table and ate their dinner. While they were eating Carrie was taking care of the boys. She fed them, and gave them a bath; got them all ready for Rick and Kate when they got home. When she was done, she put them back in their swings and went to go check on the girls. Once the girls were done eating, Carrie got them showered and dressed in pajamas. She turned on a movie for them and they all watched it together. In the middle of the movie Castle and Kate walked in. The girls turned around and jumped off the couch.

"Mama! Daddy!" they all screamed running over to them. Castle bent down and picked up Ava and Bella and Kate picked up Hannah.

"Hi girls! How was your day?" Kate asked

"Good." they all said "We had a lot of fun with nanny Carrie. She made us pizza and broccoli for dinner. And then she put on The Little Mermaid for us" Bella said.

"Well that sounds like a lot of fun." Castle said "How were the boys Carrie?"

She got up from the couch, holding Maximino in her hands. "Oh they were really good. Lincoln actually just fell asleep, and little Mino over here has been wide awake."

Castle puts the girls down and takes Mino from Carrie.

He lifts Maximino up so her could see his face "Hey Mino. What are you still doing up buddy?" Maximino just smiles this tiny smile at him. "Alright, well I am going to put these boys to bed. See you soon Carrie."

"Goodnight Mr. Castle." Castle goes and picks up Lincoln and takes them upstairs to put them to bed. Kate let Carrie out and then took the girls up and put them to bed.

After they put the kids to bed, they climbed into their bed after a long and exhausting day at work.

"So, how did the meeting with 1PP go?"

Kate looked up from her phone "Ugh. It was so unnecessarily long. They talked about how much longer my maternity leave would be, what my job status would be when I came back, which would be Captain, and what I wanted to happen."

Castle looked at her "And what do you want to happen when you go back?"

She laid her head on Castle's lap. "You know Castle, as much as I want to be Captain, I am not sure if I really want the position."

Castle was running his hand through her hair. "Why not? Kate you have worked so hard to get to where your are right now. Why change your mind now?"

"All I kept thinking about today was the kids and how I missed an entire day with them. My heart actually ached all day. Being captain would just consume my time and I am not sure I am ready for that to happen yet; at least not right now. Maybe later in the future, when Maximino and Lincoln are older."

Castle could tell by the look on her face that she was 100% serious about this. She really was afraid of missing all the moments with the kids. "I think you should sleep on it for a couple of days. But no matter what you decide, I will support you." He leaned down and kissed her.

"Thank you Castle." she said smiling.

"Always."

She sat up and crawled back over to her side of their bed. "Hey have you heard from Alexis? I know she wanted to come by and see the boys."

"Yeah she called me last week and said that she was extremely sick. She wasn't sure what is was so she didn't want to come here until she was feeling better."

Kate looked very concerned "Well how is she feeling now?"

"I called her yesterday and she said she was actually feeling worse. I told her to go to a doctor so she said that she would. I texted her today but she didn't answer."

"Well where is Nate?" Kate asked

"He is away on a business trip."  
"So he left her alone?" Kate asked sounding a little worried

" Kate honey, I am pretty sure Alexis is okay."

"Fine. But if something happens, I am blaming you."

"Whatever you say Kate. Just stop worrying and go to bed." With that he turned off the lights, go underneath the covers, wrapped his arm around Kate while she laid on his chest, and fell asleep.

Castle and Kate were sleeping when they heard a knock at the door.

Kate was hitting Castle to wake him up "Castle, someone is at the front door."

"Kate you're dreaming. Go back to sleep." he mumbled. The knocking got louder.

"Castle!" Kate said "Get the door!"

"Okay okay I will." he said as he rolled out of bed. He looked at the clock on his nightstand. 3:00 am. Who could possibly be here? He grabbed the bat from the top of the stairs and went to open the front door. He raised the bat and swung open the door. There stood Alexis.

"Alexis sweetheart? What's wrong? What are you doing here?" Castle was confused but she looked so pale, and thin.

"Dad, something is wrong. You have to help me." Alexis said as she collapsed into her dad's arms.

Warning: these next few chapters are going to be intense


	4. Chapter 4

Castle always hated hospitals. It always brings back bad memories. Memories of when Kate got shot, when he had that toxin poisoning, and anytime him or Kate got hurt while on the job, they always ended up back here. But there is something different about this time. Maybe because this has to do with his baby girl. When she didn't look like her normal self. She looked so thin and so pale. And her head; as weird as it sounds, it looks swollen. She just did not look like the same. Now here he is. Sitting and waiting. Waiting to hear what the doctor to tell him what is wrong with his little girl.

The doctor walks into the waiting room where Castle and Kate are sitting. They left the kids at home with her dad. "Mr. Castle?"

Castle and Kate jumped up from their chairs "Hi yes I'm Mr. Castle but you can call me Rick and this is my wife Kate. How is she?"

Dr. Collins shook his hand and began to tell them what they found "Well what we found is not good and quite frankly I do not know how it was missed. We ran some tests, specifically a CT scan, and MRI, and a biopsy and we found that your daughter has what we call Glioblastoma."

"What is that?" Kate asked

"Well it is an extremely aggressive cancer th-"

"Cancer? You are telling me, that my healthy 27 years old daughter has cancer?" Castle interrupted.

Dr. Collins sighed "Yes Mr. Castle. Your daughter has cancer; actually brain cancer. We found a pretty large malignant tumor that we have classified as grade III.

"Can you take it out?" Kate asked.

"Unfortunately, the tumor is an inoperable brain tumor. It is entangled with blood vessels that makes it too dangerous for Alexis to try to remove it. I am also very concerned about the state of Alexis's health. Since she has been through the nausea, the swollen head, the unconsciousness, and blurred vision she is in a very weakened state that would make performing surgery too risky for her. So an alternative is to try radiation. We will be able to know whether or not this is something that we can try to minimize and make her as comfortable as possible." Dr. Collins suggested

Castle sits down and puts his face in his hands. He takes a deep breath and then looks up at Dr. Collins. "How long does she have?" As much as he did not want to think about it, he needed to know. He wanted to prepare himself for what was going to come.

"Babe I am not sure that you rea-"

"KATE SHUTUP AND LET DR. COLLINS ANSWER MY QUESTION!" Castle yelled. Kate's face turned pale. Never has that ever happened to her. She was taken back by this. "Now Doc, how long does she have?"

"Judging by the size of the tumor, if the radiation does not work, I give her about 12 to 18 months. I am really sorry about all of this Mr. and Mrs. Castle. I promise you I will try everything in my power to get her through this. She is being moved to ICU right now and then in about 10 minutes you can go see her." With that Dr. Collins walked away to get everything set up.

"This cannot be happening. The sickest she has ever been was when she was six and she got the chicken pox. And now she only has about 18 months to live. How does this happen?" Castle says looking at Kate.

She just looked at him. "I'm not sure Castle. And I don't think we will ever understand." She looked down at her hands and then back up at Castle. "I'm going to go home and relieve my dad of the kids and call Carrie. I'll bring you back some coffee and a bagel." she said as she got up. She touched his shoulder before she walked away. She just needed to get some fresh air. This was all too much for her; between this news about Alexis and Castle flipping out in her she couldn't take it anymore. She got into her car and drove to the house because all she wanted was just to hug her kids.

Before she left the house she gave the kids hugs and kisses. "Carrie are you sure you are going to be okay here all day with the kids?"

"Yes I will be totally okay. I have a bunch of ideas to keep the girls busy and tire them out so it's going to be fine here." she reassured Kate

Kate smiled at her "Alright thank you again for coming on such short notice."

Isabella walked over to her mom and tugged at her shirt "Mama, isn't Lexi supposed to come today?"

Kate sighed and bent down so she could be face to face with her daughter. "Yes honey she was but Lexi isn't feeling well so she won't be coming anytime soon." She looked so sad and heart broken. "I know love that you miss your big sister" she hugged her daughter "but don't worry you will see her soon."

Kate got up, grabbed the travel coffee mugs and bagels, said goodbye again and back to the hospital she went.

When she got to the hospital, she didn't know what room Alexis was in so she asked the nurse at the front desk.

"Hi I was wondering if you could tell me what room Alexis Castle is staying in?"

The nurse looked up at her "Your name and relationship?"

"Oh sorry. My names is Katherine Castle. I am her stepmother."

"Okay just give me one second" the nurse said as she was typing away "Alexis Castle is in ICU room 147."

Kate gave her a big smile "Thank you very much ma'am and have a good day."

When Kate got to Alexis's room, she saw Castle and Martha asleep in the chairs that were sitting in the corner of the both looked so defeated. And Castle even though he was sleeping, you could tell looking at his face he was so scared. I mean that is his first born child. His little girl and now it is all going to be taken away from him. She wiped the tears off of her face and walked into the room. The second the door opened Alexis's eyes opened. Alexis had a big smile on her face.

"Hey sweetie" Kate said in a hushed tone "How are you feeling?"

"Never better actually." Alexis said and they both started laughing. Kate walked over to her bed and sat right on the edge. She held Alexis's hand and just looked into her eyes, They were so beautiful and blue just like her father. Kate just started to cry.

"Kate, please don't cry. I am going to be fine."

Kate looked up at Alexis "No honey you aren't and I don't know how any of us are going to make it through this. You are everything to us, especially your sisters and brothers."

Alexis sat up "Speaking of my siblings, got any pictures of my baby bros? I haven't seen them yet."

Kate pulled out her phone and found some pictures to show her. "This right here is Maximino James Castle. He was born first. He was 6 lbs 11 oz and 21 in. We call him either Max or Mino. He has your dad's eyes but a little lighter. They are beautiful. He is such an easy baby too. He rarely cries and he loves to sleep. He smiles a lot too. He has blond hair though. We really are not sure where he gets it from but it's okay. Your dad said that you were just like Mino when you were a baby." They both started laughing. She swiped over to the next picture. Alexis gasps. "And this little chunky monkey is Lincoln Jackson Castle."

"Oh my gosh he is so precious!"

Kate started to laugh "He may look it but he is far from it. He was born about seven minutes after Mino. He was 8 lbs 15 oz and 20 in. He has green eyes and brown hair but man on man is he one difficult baby. He never sleeps...like ever and I have no idea why. And he loves peeing on me and your dad when we change him."

Alexis is cracking up "Yeah he seems like he is going to be one tough toddler in a few years. Too bad I won't be there to see them grow up."

And that was when it happened. Alexis just broke down and she couldn't stop. Kate crawled into her bed, laid right next to her and held her in her arms and just let her cry. Kate kissed the top of her head and then rested hers on top of Alexis's.

"Kate…..Kate honey wake up." Castle whispered trying not to wake up Alexis. Kate rolled over, looked up and saw Castle.

"What time is it?" she asked

He looked at his watch "Um it is 2:30 pm"

"Wow that's late. I didn't even know I fell asleep." she looked around the room. "Where is your mother?"

"She went to the house to see the kids. She needed something to cheer her up."

"Ah okay." she got up from the bed and stretched her legs and arms. Her muscles were so stiff.

Castle went and sat back down. He was still a little tired.

"Hey I am going to grab some coffee. I'll be right back." she said ass she was about to leave the room. Castle grabbed her hand and pulled her over to him. She sat down on his lap.

"Hey Kate I really am so sorry for snapping at you earlier. It's just that with all of this goi-"

Kate just kissed Castle in the middle of what he was saying. "Babe, you don't have to apologize to me at all. I get it. This is all just too much to handle."

Castle started to cry. "Kate I don't know if I can do this. That's my baby girl."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the top of his head. She just let him cry on her shoulders. She started to cry herself. They were going to make it through this somehow. They had to.

Sorry about all of this guys. I had to keep the story going somehow. But it will all be okay in the end.


	5. Chapter 5

*A week and a half later*

Kate took some time off of work so that she could spend more time with Alexis and just to make sure that Castle and Martha were going to be okay. Castle never really slept and spent most of his time at the hospital as well as Martha. For the time being, Martha was staying at the house in the guest room. The kids loved having Grams stay here. They thought of it as a sleepover. As for Alexis, she had already started radiation. It was very rough on her. She was always tired and nauseous. She had lost a lot of weight too. It was very hard on the girls, especially Ava. They had seen her a couple of time before she had started radiation. But now that Alexis had started, she did not want them to see her like that; just for now. And the girls did not understand but it was for their best interest. It was not really working out so much.

Kate was hanging out with the boys while Ava was in school and Hannah and Bella were spending time with Lanie. She was putting them in their car-seats so she could go run some errands when her phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered

"Hi is this Mrs. Castle?" the voice on the other line asked.

"Yes this is she."

"Hi my name is Mrs. Weinstein. I am Ava's teacher."

This was weird. Why would Ava's teacher be calling her? "Yes hi how are you? Is everything okay?"

"I am doing well but no, everything's not okay. I am going to need you to come down to the school. Ava got into a fight." Mrs. Weinstein told her.

"Okay I will be right there."

A fight. This was the last thing Kate needed on her plate. She got the boys into the car and headed towards Ava's school.

Once she got there, she took out the boy's car seat and headed for the door. She walked to the main office and saw Ava sitting their with a very angry face and her arms crossed. Next to her was this other girl whose knee was bleeding. This could not be good. Mrs. Weinstein came into the office and lead Kate to a private room.

"Mrs. Castle-"

"Please call me Kate." she said as she put the car seats down and sat in a chair next to them.

"Okay. Kate, I am not sure what has gotten into Ava lately, but her behavior here at school has not normal. She is a super smart girl and very friendly and sweet but lately she has not been herself. Is there anything going on at home?" her teacher asked with concern.

"Actually there is. Her older sister Alexis has been diagnosed with stage three brain cancer and she is not doing so well and it has been very hard on her. Her sister is her best friend and she doesn't want Ava to see her like this so Ava is taking it pretty hard."

"Oh my goodness I am so so sorry to hear that? How old is she?"

"She is twenty-seven years old."

"Wow that is very young. Something like that would explain Ava's erratic behavior."

Kate was still in shock. "I just cannot believe that I am sitting her in this office. This is really not like Ava."

"Yes I can tell. How is she at home?" Mrs. Weinstein asked curiously

Kate had to think about it "She has been very quiet. She has been keeping to herself lately."

"Okay well she has been talking back to me for a few days now. I have spoken to her about it and tried to look past it. But today it kind of got out of hand and then when I found out that she pushed Dakota while they were on the playground, I figured it was time to call you. We would like to send her home for today and give her tomorrow off just so she can cool down. She is not in that much trouble, but we are going to take away her recess for two days next week."

Kate was so frustrated. "Okay yes that sounds fair. My husband and I will have a serious talk with her today. I am very sorry that she has been disrespectful to you. It just baffles me because every time she comes home all she talks about is you and how awesome you are. So again I would like to apologize."

Mrs. Weinstein grabbed Kate's hands "It really is okay. I just want to make sure that she will be okay. I don't normally have favorites but she is my favorite and the best student in the class so I am just looking out for her.

"Thank you very much." Kate looked down at her watch. "I am so sorry but I have to go and pick up my other two daughters from my girlfriend's house." she said as she stood up from her chair.

Mrs. Weinstein helped her carry the boys and Ava to the car. Before Ava got into the car she walked up to Mrs. Weinstein and tugged on her shirt.

"I am sorry for talking back to you. It was not a nice thing to do. You are my favorite teacher and I really like you and I hope that you still like me." Ava said so sincerely. Mrs Weinstein bent down so she could be face to face with Ava. Kate just stood there watching.

"Ava sweetheart I will never stop liking you. Thank you very much for apologizing. I forgive you. And I want you to know that if you need anything or want to talk about anything, you can always come to me whenever you want. Okay?"

Ava gave her a big hug. "Okay. Thank you."

She pulled away and climbed into the car and buckled herself in her seat. Kate waved to Mrs. Weinstein and got in the car and drove away. She figured she would wait until she got home to talk to Ava about what was really going on.

Kate pulled up to Lanie's house. The babies and Ava were sleeping so she just left them in the car. She walked up Lanie's front steps and knocked on the door. The door opened and there stood Javier.

"Javi? What're you doing home?" Kate asked

"Well once I heard that my nieces were coming over for a playdate with their Aunt Lanie, I decided to take a day off and spend some time with them. Plus Lanie had to go into work 10 minutes ago so I had to be here with the girls" he said smiling.

Kate gave him a hug. "Thank you so much Javier. I really appreciate it." Seconds later the girls came running to the front door.

"Mommy mommy! Uncle Javi played dress up with me, Bella and Aunt Lanie." Hannah told her.

"Really?" Kate asked looking up at Javi.

"Yeah!" Bella said. "He dressed up as Princess Tiana, Aunt Lanie was Pocahontas, Hannie was Rapunzel and I was Belle."

"Isabella! You were supposed to keep that a secret." Javier said embarrassed

"It's okay Javier." Kate said "I will keep your secret."

He gave her a look "You better!"

The girls gave their uncle a hug, into the car they went and on their way home they go.

15 minutes later Kate finally got all the sleeping kids into the house. Martha helped her bring them upstairs to their bedrooms. Martha made salad so they went back downstairs to have a quiet lunch together.

"Katherine darling, what is the matter? I can tell that something is on your mind."

Kate sits there quietly for a second. She looks up at Martha and starts crying. "Martha I don't know if I am going to be able to handle all of this. I mean Between Castle and and the girls I am not sure if I am going to be able to comfort them the way they are going to need it. And what about Lincoln and Mino? They are never going to have the chance to meet their big sister. Alexis is my right hand man. What am I going to do?" There it was. It was all bottled up inside and Martha was there to catch it all.

"Katherine, you are much stronger than you know. I mean look at everything that you have been through. The girls are going to really struggle with this but that is the reality. But they know that you are going to be there for them whenever they need you." Martha said

"But bad things are already starting to happen. Ava is acting up at school. She is talking back to her teacher and she is bullying kids in the playground."

Martha rests her hands on top of Kate's. "It will all be okay. I promise you. I will be here, Castle will be here, and you have amazing friends that will be by your side through it all."

Kate wiped the tears off of her face. "Thank you Martha."

They continued to eat and make small talk. They were talking about Alexis when the girls came down the stairs.

"Mommy, can we have a snack?" Bella asked as she walked down the stairs.

"Yeah sweetie. I will cut up some fruit for you and your sisters. Where is Ava?"

"Um she is in her room." Hannah said. Martha gave Kate a look, and Kate gave her a nod. Martha went upstairs to go check on Ava.

Martha knocks on Ava's door and walks into her room. Luckily she left the door ajar because Kate was standing near the doorway so she can listen in on the conversation.

Martha found Ava laying on her bed holding a stuffed animal. She walked over to her bed and sat down next to her.

"Ava sweetheart. Do you want to tell Gram what is going on?" she asked her granddaughter.

Ava looked up at her and started crying. "I don't want Lexi to die. I want her to stay here forever." she managed to say through her sobs. "Why can't she stay Gram? Why does she have to go?" Ava couldn't stop crying, which made Martha cry, and Kate was crying too but no one knew. Her little girl was going to lose her role model in a year; and there was nothing Kate could do about it.

Martha was just sitting there holding Ava; letting her cry as much as she wanted.

"You know something Ava, it is a horrible thing that is happening to your sister. But you want to know something?"

"What?" Ava said while she was sniffling

"Alexis is going to be in great hands."

"What does that mean?"

Martha wiped her eyes before she started talking. "Well your sister is going to go to heaven. She has done so many great things. So not only will God be waiting for her up there, so will Nana Johanna."

"Really? Lexi is going to be with Nana?" Ava perked up a little bit.

"Oh my goodness yes she will be. Nana has been waiting for her ever since Lexi got sick. And you know, they are going to be with you always."

She looked up at Martha. "You promise?"

Martha held up three fingers "Scout's honor. They will always be watching over you and they will always be there so that you can talk to them even though they really are not here."

Ava hugged Martha and gave her a big kiss on her cheek. "Thank you Gram. I love you lots." she said smiling.

Ava got up from her bed and ran out the door and right into Kate. She looked up at her mom with such a sad look on her face.

"Mama, I am sorry for not being good in school today. It's just that I am very sad."

Kate bent down and picked her up. She hugged her so tight and gave her a big kiss. "Ava it is okay. I just want you to come and talk to mommy whenever you are feeling sad or you have any questions."

Ava gave her mom another kiss. "Okay mommy. Can I have a snack now?"

Kate put her down. "Yes you can. Your bowl of fruit is already on the table. Your sisters are down there already."

Ava ran down the stairs to go hangout with her sisters. Martha came out of Ava's room and put her hand on Kate's shoulder. Kate turned around and gave Martha a big hug.

"Thank you Martha."

"No need to thank me. I would do anything for you guys."

They grabbed the boys before heading back downstairs. They put the boys in their swings, turned on the tv, and sat on the couches and just hung-out. The girls finished their snacks and sat with Kate and Martha.

Castle just got back from the hospital. He walked up the front steps and quietly walked into the house just in case the boys were sleeping. What he didn't expect to walk into was seeing his family sitting together, hanging out and laughing. Even though times were really tough they still put a smile on his face. He walked over and gave everyone kisses. He picked up Maximino, sat down next to Kate.

"Hey babe is everything okay?" Kate asked. She could tell something was up.

Castle looked up at her and gave her a small smile. "Yeah everything is good." Even though he was lying, he did not want to be the bearer of bad news when his family was having such an amazing time. He just wanted to enjoy it because things were going to change very quickly.


	6. Author's Note

Author's Note

Hi guys! I just wanted to start off by saying thank you so much for following my story. I am very new at this so thanks for bearing with me.

I also would like to thank you guys for you reviews and critiques. I love when people give me harsh criticism because it causes me to be better.

With that being said, I am going to be ending this story. After talking to a couple of readers, I decided that this story that I have written is a lot like the rest of the Castle stories that are written and I don't want that. There is going to be two more chapters left. The next chapter that I will post will have two time jumps. They will both be six month time jumps. The last chapter will be a two year time jump.

It was fun writing this story! Hopefully you will all follow me to my new story. If anyone is interested in helping me write this that would be great!


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